There is a lord who just wants to draw cards, what's wrong with that?

If it hits him in the face, his skull would probably fly ten miles away.

Alger seemed to be stunned. His arms fell weakly, and the wooden sword fell to the ground with a clatter. He muttered:

"What kind of monster are you...?"

Chapter 117: The Changing Cyclops and the Unchanging Little Sword Master

Chapter 117-116- The Changing Cyclops and the Unchanging Little Sword Master

Alger spread his hands, his face full of helplessness:

"That's the thing. Otherwise, do you think I, a princess's personal bodyguard, would be reduced to being your thug?"

In the office on the second floor of the Nightwish Tavern, Morey curled his lips after listening to this, while Mei was beside them, very virtuous and helped them to serve tea and water.

"But didn't you, the princess's personal bodyguard, get defeated by Master Dominic and come here willingly to accept defeat..."

“Can you please stop exposing my scars?” Alger sighed. “Master Dominic’s strength has long surpassed his sheepish appearance. I can’t even tell the depth. It’s unbelievable… What kind of parents would give birth to such a monster?”

Duke Carlos and Duchess Grace will be angry if you say that, Morey complained in his heart.

"Forget it..." He picked up the cup and drank the tea in it in one gulp, quite like a soldier: "Let the past be the past. I also recognize the difference between me and him. I still have a long way to catch up."

"Master asked me to listen to your arrangements. Tell me what I need to do so that I can return to the princess."

When it came to serious matters, Morey stood up without hesitation, took out a document from the filing cabinet next to him and handed it to Alger.

As he watched, Morey explained verbally:

"The thing is, when Master Dominic instructed me to launch 'Lupai', this new game was indeed welcomed by the public. The audience included men, women, young and old, of all ages, and the revenue it brought was unbelievable."

"With this money, I opened several Lu Pai taverns in the city center. They can be used as formal places to play Lu Pai, and they are also official sales points for selling card packs and black boxes for drawing cards."

"With the physical industry, it has become even more popular, with monthly net profits reaching tens of thousands of gold royals."

"Take the young master?!"

Alger's body trembled. His annual salary was only eight hundred gold royals. How many years would it take him to save tens of thousands of gold royals by himself?

One year, two years, three years... Oh, forget it! The more I count, the more confused I get! If I don't eat or drink and work until I retire, that would only be enough, right?

Such an astronomical figure was actually raised by Duomi alone? And he only needed to lie down in the castle on the top of the mountain and count the money.

Under the pressure of reality, Alger was defeated once again, miserably.

"To be precise, it's 15,000 gold royals. After launching the limited card pack, the monthly profit can reach more than 30,000. This is just the income provided by the three Lu Pai taverns. I am now planning to open taverns outside the city and in the surrounding towns."

"But problems also arise. Some people are eyeing the card pack sales business of Lupai Tavern, and they want to contract and franchise it."

"The word franchising means that others spend their own money to open a store to take advantage of our popularity, and then we give them a portion of the final profits. Logically speaking, franchising is actually a good thing. We can promote the Hearth brand faster without spending a penny of our own money."

"But things like revenue transparency, management, and reputation are difficult to handle. If someone interferes, our Lupai Tavern is likely to become their treasure trove and money-spending den."

"The young master's property is sacred and inviolable. This is undoubtedly not allowed, but we cannot supervise every aspect."

"Look, one of the largest underworld organizations in the city has connections with nobles from all sides and has a large number of people. They wanted a franchise license, but I didn't allow it."

"Afterwards, countless nobles, both big and small, came to negotiate with me, hoping that I would grant permission. Could I refuse? They didn't know that these were all Young Master Duomi's businesses, and Young Master didn't want others to know about his secret arrangements. If I didn't grant permission, they would be able to bring the Lu Pai business to a crashing halt."

"On the one hand, the business failed, on the other hand, the property was violated and there was a parasitic tumor, and on the other hand, the young master's layout was broken. I can't take care of all three aspects. At this time, I need a breaker."

Morey looked straight at Alger and said in a deep voice:

"A person with a great background but no importance, a person who can make all nobles and forces feel apprehensive and unable to guess who is instructing him."

Alger was not stupid, so he naturally understood the underlying meaning and said in a cold voice:

"You... or the young master, do you mean to bring Princess Xia to the stage and use her as his shield?"

"I am Princess Xia's knight, and I will not allow anything to happen that infringes on the princess's reputation and interests! I will find the young master and ask him to make other plans for this matter."

"I don't think so~" Morey said mysteriously after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?"

"Let me explain it to you. First of all, my goal is to ensure that the young master's industry is preserved and developed. All my actions are to serve the young master, and this matter is naturally the same."

"And the Princess Xia whom you serve and protect... no, it should be said that the young lady will definitely marry Master Duomi in the future. You and I have witnessed this."

"After marriage, the couple is one in both property and reputation, so they should help each other, right? What you are doing now does not mean that the reputation of the young lady will be damaged. They can't guess who is the mastermind behind the scenes. And you can protect the young master's property, which is equivalent to protecting the young lady's property in disguise!"

"With this back and forth, you have really given Her Royal Highness the Princess face!"

Gollum—

Alger swallowed his saliva when he heard it. The other sound came from Mei.

She never expected that the usually honest Morey could be so terrifying when he deceived people. It seemed as if he was about to brainwash Alger.

Morey struck immediately, walked behind Alger, held his shoulders, and whispered in his ear:

"Although the princess won't know it was you who did it after this is successful, in the future, when the truth about the young masters' marriage is revealed, you, Alger, will be a true hero! It is you who protected this precious asset and safeguarded their future!"

"Ha~~"

"The 'Cyclops' hiding in the underground casino, go ahead and teach them a lesson."

boom!

As soon as the door of the tavern slammed, Alger immediately headed to the largest underground casino in the city.

Looking at his upright figure that revealed a hint of pure stupidity, Morey could only pray to God, hoping that Alger would forgive him.

"Where is the leader of the Cyclops?!"

The underground casino is still bustling at this moment, filled with scantily clad female dealers and gamblers with lewd looks on their faces.

But after Alger chopped the door down and roared, the scene fell silent in an instant.

"I am Alger, a reserve knight of the Lion's Mouth Knights' academy and the personal bodyguard of Princess Rose! Tell the leader of the Cyclops to come out to see me immediately!"

"Why, have you all become deaf?"

He swept his sharp eyes over the crowd, and seeing that no one paid any attention to him, Alger walked towards the depths of the casino.

A group of men in servant clothing immediately came out to stop him, smiling and saying in a friendly manner:

"How could that be? How could we ignore you, Master Alger? It's just that our boss might be busy right now, so why don't you wait a while? We will serve you the best wine and the most beautiful girls..."

"You are stalling for time so that he can escape, right? Your tricks won't fool me. Get out of here, or I'll kill you on the spot!"

The cold sword was unsheathed, and the servants immediately retreated, allowing Alger to walk deeper.

However, before he could take a few more steps, a very strong man with a muscular body, a blindfold covering his left eye, and a bare upper body came out, hugging two charming vixens, with a pipe in his mouth, looking super cool.

"The man known as the Cyclops - Lakkad, possesses powerful close combat abilities and is also a formal-level water-attribute mage..."

This information emerged in Alger's mind. Morey organized it quite thoroughly, even comparing his chances of winning against Lacard - if nothing unexpected happened, he should be able to defeat Lacard, but it would not be easy.

"It is my honor to have you here, Your Excellency Alger. I wonder why you are here this time?"

Alger simply shook his head and said, "No reason, just teaching you a lesson."

Hearing this, Lakkad burst into laughter.

With his support, the younger brothers in the casino also laughed loudly, obviously not taking him seriously. After all, he was just a reserve knight in the youth training camp and the princess's little follower.

If they were real Knights of the Lion's Mouth, they would almost certainly kneel on the ground when they met.

Now? Forget it, he's just a brat.

"what's so funny?"

"Sir, you must have been sent here by the boss of the furnace brand, right? No, that boss is just a pair of gloves. The real person behind the scenes sent you here, right?"

"Let me guess... Could it be Princess Xia? Haha, that's impossible. Who could it be~~"

"I advise you not to let your imagination run wild. Otherwise, even those nobles who have had affairs with you won't be able to protect you." Alger said murderously.

"Oh, oh, I'm so scared~" Lakkad said seriously after a bit of shyness: "So, Sir Alger, what do you want to do?"

"Didn't I tell you that I'll teach you a lesson and then I'll leave."

"Have you ever thought about this, sir? Fighting me is equivalent to fighting the entire 'Cyclops'. Moreover, you were the first to attack. According to the laws of Blofeld Territory, we have the right to fight back."

"It won't be a death sentence, but at least he'll be seriously injured. If he gets embarrassed, we won't be responsible for that. Have you thought this through, sir?"

Alger pointed his sword directly at Lakkad's Adam's apple and rushed forward: "Stop talking nonsense! I also advise you to give up struggling!"

"Haha, you really can't hold your temper." Lakkad was not only calm, but also casually pushed the two women aside, and did not forget to tease: "Brother will come to favor you later."

Facing Alger's charge, Lakkad finally moved.

The water flowed out from his palm, turning into a trickle, reflecting the trajectory of his fist.

"I want to see how sharp the sword of the legendary kendo genius is! Can it cut through the skills I have accumulated for ten years!"

In an instant, the sword marks and fist shadows intertwined together, and the two men's fighting almost left afterimages. It was not a battle that a normal person could intervene in.

"Fists again..." Alger couldn't help but recall the psychological trauma left by that day: "But your fists are far inferior to his!"

Alger rushed forward with all his strength and used his sword to knock away Lakkad's fist, exposing his entire front to his attack range.

His face lit up with joy, he raised his sword, and stabbed at him. Just when he was about to stab him, Lakkad's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a mocking expression:

"Sir Alger, your sword is really weak."

"what?!"

Lacard, such a big man, bent down like flowing water, dodged his sword like plasticine, and finally hit Alger's abdomen with his iron fist filled with water magic!

"Ugh!!"

Alger was knocked several meters away, rolling and lying prone all the way.

"Although your sword is very fast, my Liushui boxing is not to be underestimated. Moreover, it seems that your edges have been smoothed over by the lord's son. You can't even arouse my interest."

Lacarde's words were like needles, piercing his heart coldly and sharply.

No one knew it better than himself - his sword had long lost its initial confidence and sharpness, so much so that a thug like Lakkad could shit on his head.

He lay in a mess on the dirty floor, his mouth wide open but not daring to breathe. The severe pain in his abdomen made him curl up like a shrimp.

"……help me……"

The Sword Saint who resided in his body sighed:

"Alger, I know that Dominic has cast a huge shadow on you, but you must face it bravely alone."

“There are always people better than you. There are many people in the world who are better than you, but you don’t have to be better than everyone else. You just need to be better than you were yesterday.”

"Overcome the shadow. This is the biggest obstacle on your path to becoming a swordsman. Overcome it!"

After saying this, the old swordsman fell silent, as if he had temporarily given up on Alger.

"Overcome...how do I overcome it?"

"I can't beat anyone now. Lakkad has crushed my last bit of hope into powder..."

A group of younger brothers surrounded him and punched and kicked Alger as he lay on the ground, leaving him with a black eye and a swollen face. However, he no longer had the strength to swing his sword.

It’s not that he really didn’t have it, but the feeling of powerlessness made him physically and mentally exhausted.

At that moment, no one knew what was going on in his mind...

"That's enough. If you keep fighting, you'll die."

The thugs dispersed, and Lacard walked up to Alger, lifted his hair with one hand, and raised his head. He looked at Alger's swollen eyes and sneered:

"Boy, you are still too young. Don't show off your skills with this level. Go back to your mother's womb and practice for another ten years!"

After saying that, Lakkad stood up holding Alger's head and threw him towards the door.

With a thud, he hit the wall of the corridor outside. Seeing that he was still breathing with his head down, Lakkad clapped his hands and called it a day:

"Search him and use the money you find to repair the door. If you don't have any, strip him of his clothes and sell them along with his sword to make up the difference."

"Okay boss!"

Lacard turned around and reached out to hug the two girls again, but saw that they were looking at the door with surprise on their faces:

"Lord Lakkad! He...that boy...he stood up again!"

Chapter 118 Love Buds in the Rain